Just bought a P880 in "like new" condition off eBay.** This camera does seem to work well, although I wasn't too pleased with its macro abilities while I was trying to get a closeup of an Intel CPU for an eBay listing. However, when I switch the power on, the autofocus motor starts whirring, clicking and seems to be constantly moving and hunting for focus, even when the camera is just sitting on a table, with nothing touching the shutter release button. Is this normal? I've never had this happen with any of the half dozen or so other digital cameras and four non-digital ones with autofocus that I've owned. Is there a setting I should turn off in one of the menus that will cure this problem? Or, does it sound like I'm striking out again and got another defective camera?

Thanks

** This is the secondP880 I bought from an eBay auction with that description -the first of which was DOA, had a broken battery cover, was worn and missing accessories and is now the subject of a Paypal dispute. But I digress.

Refer to page 53 of the manual, if you do not have a manual recommend you get one from the kodak site.

under the capture menu
choose AF control
[sup]pick either[/sup]Continous AF (default) whereby the camera continuously attempts to focus until the shutter is pressed.
[sub]This setting will cause the AF to hunt for the correct focus and will use more of your battery, BUT will, under most situations, allow for a shorter period of time between pressing the shutter release and taking the picture.[/sub]
[sub]or[/sub]Single AF - whereby the camera gets in focus when the shutter button is pressed halfway down.

[sub]Obviously, you may like the Single AF better, it will conserve battery life, but cause a longer delay when shooting since it has to fully focus prior to releasing the shutter.[/sub]

Also check the AFL *AutoFocus Lock" setting on page 33 and 34. This setting will NOT cause the camera to continuously try to focus but is interesting none the less.